Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 39,521 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 62.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 39,521 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.14% of BankUnited worth $3,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 270.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BKU. Compass Point boosted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.45.

BankUnited Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE:BKU traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.15. 456,613 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 761,802. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is 37.66%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company's stock.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services.